


Over The Mountain And Through New York

by Greyscales (sablescales)



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Drama, Family, No Smut, No pairings yet - Freeform, Sibling Bonding, Wings, baby turtles, no graphic depictions of violence, or should i say singular turtle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 22:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7864315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sablescales/pseuds/Greyscales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in the world of TMNT, a sharp-shooting assassin gets away with a crime boss' little girl, only to have said girl taken by aliens. A violent chase through New York ensues.</p>
<p>(AU, OC-centric drabbles intersecting with turtles sometimes. W.I.P., mostly just a dumping ground of ideas that may or may not pan out for a full, dedicated story. So, uh, consider yourself warned.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

~*~  
A Bond Forged in Hell  
~*~

I never really liked the kid, to be honest. There wasn't much of a bond between us before _that incident_ happened. Her parents are big faces in the criminal underground, dealing in illegal weaponry and assassination. They're okay people, in some senses; they're pleasant enough to talk to if you ignore the dangerous bits, polite, well-cultured, and they pay well.

Perhaps they should never have become parents. Her parents knew full well the kind of world they were bringing her into. To survive her parent's world, any child would need to acquire a certain set of skills... Her daily rituals after breakfast and brushing her teeth involved learning new ways to conceal, subdue, and kill. I have seen this tiny slip of a girl strangle animals half her size with her bare hands to death and appear completely unaffected. It's _eerie_ , not to mention tragic, and you wouldn't normally guess any of it from the way she looks and acts. I'm sure some could. To a trained eye, there's this undeniable aura around her that is abrasive and offsetting. The child is _wrong_.

So no, I didn't like her.

Neither did I hate her, however. The truth was that I empathised with her. I probably had been the same way at one point, having come from the same background. The only difference is that I've had the opportunity to learn compassion and regret, while she has yet to have those necessary experiences.

As for me, I will be turning seventeen later this year, and I am trained to be a professional killer. My hands are as clean as the streets of New York. I have a 95% accuracy rate with my custom pistols and am absolute crap at throwing knives, though I have them. I have a diverse skill set, but the only thing I've really excelled in besides guns and murder is... Music. I took piano lessons once to learn what I needed to blend into a certain crowd, and my interest in music took off from there. I never knew that these skills would be so useful years later down the road.

I have possibly the worst resumé. I am not the person you want on the job.

So, considering that, and that there wasn't much in the way of a relationship to begin with, it's amazing how much of my time and thoughts are occupied by her. As the only thing separating her from numerous possibly gruesome fates, she is my full-time job now.

“Mei, do not put that in your mouth! You don't know where that's been.”

The incident that permanently changed both our lives must have been like a **reset button** for her. I have to constantly watch and teach her things all over again, as if she's a toddler. A fast-learning toddler, but still. Hhhh.

“Mei, stay here and do not talk to anyone who does not know the password... I'll be right back.”

She's so small and vulnerable. She doesn't have anyone else but me, now. Even if she remembers any of her training, it's doubtful she will ever be able to use all of it. She's so... different, now. We both are, though to different extents. Concealing ourselves is the best way to survive. There is no more hiding-in-plain-sight or acting the part of just-a-little-girl.

“You need to eat something, Mei. You need the energy and we have a long way to walk.”

Food is hard to come by while on the run. I can ration my own portions to sustain myself until there is more, but she is young and needs the nutrition to avoid any health problems later down the road. This means I have to lower myself to petty theft and dumpster diving to keep us alive.

“Are you tired? Do you need to pee?”

It's really hard travelling with someone so young. Their little legs get tired quickly and we have to stop often. Since I don't have a lot of energy of my own to spare most of the time, very rarely will I carry Mei on my back. It's also somewhat awkward now because of my new appendages and her carapace...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why does this happiness have to hurt so much? Because I need to give this relationship some sense of, uh, depth. At least it's short. This drabble is set later in time, when the two are shown to have grown closer.

~*~  
Learning to be Gentle  
~*~

Since the incident, she's been looking up at me in such strange ways. Toddling after me with bright, brown eyes, she mimics the way I act and is curious about everything I do. This would be endearing, I suppose, if not for the fact that she must stay out of sight from people at all times. The first thing I noticed after officially being on the run is that she does not fully understand or follow my instructions. Her training before the incident would've taught her to without question.

Sometimes I wonder if this is still the same little girl I remember growing up with. She's so different, so innocent, so... frustrating.

I have to bite my tongue sometimes to keep from saying harsh things. I understand that she's confused, that she's lonely, that she needs attention. I know this, but it doesn't make things less frustrating for me. I don't know what I can do about those. I'm hungry, I'm tired, I'm irritable, and I'm always worried about how we're going to survive tomorrow.

She asked me today if I was her friend. It caught me off guard. She must really not remember anything from her previous life. The look in her eyes told me how much she was counting on me saying yes.

Deliberately ignoring the fact that we barely had a relationship before the incident, I assured Mei, “I am your friend, but more importantly I am your _Onēsan._ That means _Big Sister._ ”

“ _Onēsan._ ” She repeated, looking through a window into a cafe we walked by. There was a mother and her child. I tugged Mei's hand to remind her to walk steadily forward. We needed to get to someplace away from prying eyes.

“No, Mei, that is a mother and child,” I said patiently while searching for the right explanation, “We are sisters. I am your Big Sister, and you are my Little Sister. I protect you from bad things. That is what Big Sisters do.”

She hummed as if considering this, before asking, “Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” I asked, confused. “That is what Big Sisters do, because they are family, and family protects family.”

“Bu' why?”

I furrow my brows, a little stressed at having to constantly divide my attention between my surroundings and Mei's complicated questions. Or maybe it was just complicated because I was the one answering it. Eventually, I settled with, “Because if they don't, no one else will. You can not expect a stranger to give you food, to tuck you in at night, or to make sure you are safe. Those are things families are supposed to do.”

“Oh,” she said simply, and there was a moment of blessed silence.

...

“Why-”

Biting the inside of my cheek, I lifted her up by her armpits and set her on my hip while never breaking my stride. For a moment, it stuck me that I could easily throw this child, or drop her, seriously hurt and frighten her...

But in the moment after she squealed in surprise, a genuinely thrilled smile broke out on her face. I may be the one with feathers, but she is the one that loves heights. It fills her with unholy amounts of glee to be lifted like this. It reminded me to breath, and the darkness in my head was momentarily pushed away.

There's no fighting the smile that tugs the corners of my lips. I let myself indulge in the foreign feeling of tenderness for once. “It's my turn to ask questions. What is your favourite colour?”

“Blue!”

“Like the sky? Or like my coat?”

“Like da ss-sky. So pretty.”

“Is my coat not pretty?”

“No.”

Well, it **was** something I fished from a donation bin. Struggling not to laugh at Mei's childish honesty, I tried to sound upset. “No?”

“Maybe.”

“What colour would I look good wearing?”

“Hmmmmm... Oh! Green!”

“Oh, like someone I know?” I mischievously smirked, raising a finger to reach into her little coat's hood to tickle the green scales at her neck.

She squeaked sharply and wriggled in surprise. I stopped when her giggles started getting a little loud. My paranoia always makes sure to remind me that we're not somewhere safe yet, and that there are people about who could recognise us. My smile tightened before dropping into a neutral expression again.

I can sense myself changing the longer I am with Mei. It scares me a bit, but at the same time I wouldn't give it up for anything. Is it wrong to enjoy it? To like being the kind, Big Sister? To enjoy pretending to be the good, older role model this child deserved? It's frustrating, sure, taking care of a child while on the run. But I think I'm actually starting to figure out what happiness is.

She deserves so much more than I can give her. She deserves a real home, and not this. Not me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ambushed at night, Onēsan fights through Kraang and faces her fear of heights while trying to recover Mei.

~*~  
Welcome to NY  
~*~

I grit my teeth as I fling my body into a horizontal spin that has me weaving through bullets of plasma. My already stressed and weary body is forced to its limits as I duck, flip, and spin through the chaos that engulfs the air. Counting silently my bullets, I carefully dispatch one or two of them with cold accuracy. I kick away another with the momentum from my spin and fall into a roll that carries me out of knife-range of the fourth. The fourth leans over to stab me while I'm down, but anticipating this, I am able to knock it off course and reveal its sensitive belly. Planting my foot into the squishy pink mass that I assume is a weak spot, I throw its weight over me and roll onto my feet—forcing myself to dodge immediately, and just in time as a bolt of plasma hits the spot where I was just standing. 

A shriek fills the air, followed by, “Kraang must watch for Kraang when firing at those who are meant to be shot, **_by Kraang_**.”

I have no idea what the hell is going on, except for the fact that Mei is in the truck that is trying to leave this alley. I take their moment of distraction with each other to put away one of my two pistols (double the guns, double the bullets, after all) in exchange for a throwing knife, which I throw at the last standing Kraang outside the truck.

This is not the right time to miss, but miss it does. Cursing myself (“How did I miss?! I wasn't that far from the target!”), I move in close to take it out myself, but it has already decided to flee and is around the corner of the van before I can take another stab at it.

A shot of panic stalls my thoughts the second the van's tires squeal, and I watch it tear off down the street. _MEI!_ Sheathing the throwing knife in my hand as well as holstering my pistol, I start sprinting after it. There's no way I'm going to be able to match its speed like this, though... I need to...

My eyes snap to the nearby building, and I start climbing. When I reach the top, I tear off my coat and hesitate for just a couple seconds at the ledge of the building. Ruffles of black feathers at my back shudder from anticipation. 

I've never been a big fan of heights. Actually, to be honest, I'm terrified. But what terrifies me even more is the idea of losing Mei to whatever those things were. Mei is probably scared and crying right now while I'm here, trying to get over myself and just ...

I groan pathetically and back up a bit... to take a running start. I throw myself off the building. The black feathered appendages curled at my back unfurl into long, spanning bird wings. Something in my stomach drops and I swallow down the feeling of nausea as the ground rushes forward. I snap my wings forward, and back, and forward again. My course changes and I move forward-up instead of just down. When I reach a comfortable height above most buildings, I find myself able to glide, though a bit shakily.

This isn't the first time I've flown, but I haven't done it often enough to be considered a master. It should be enough to recover some ground in this chase, however. I have the element of surprise here.

With a plan already forming in my mind, I keep my eyes trained on the familiar vehicle up ahead. I flap my wings to gain more forward momentum, and swoop when I get close. What I mean to be a smooth landing is not quite so, and I hit the top of the van heavily with my arms and knees. The van lurches sideways, probably correctly guessing the thump sound I gave off to be a body landing on their vehicle. I scrabble for any kind of purchase with my hands, and just barely stay on.

Before I can be thrown off, I throw my legs toward the driver's side of the vehicle to an open window, bashing its metallic face in with my boot. Grabbing the wheel and the parking break, I force the vehicle into a skidding stop. The vehicle does a doughnut before lightly hitting its side against a building. I'm lucky there are no people outside. But, with the ruckus, I won't be surprised if people come out to see what the noise is.

Seeing the metal skeleton... robot... thing not moving, I exit the front and move to the doors at the back to extract its precious cargo. I don't have the keys, so I kinda have to make it open with a knife and some brute force.

After that is done, I see a tiny green and blue ball quivering in a corner inside. I feel like sighing in relief. I call for her with my arms open. Her tiny, bald, uncovered head pops up and I gesture for her to come here.

“ _Onēsan_ , you came!!” She bluthers tearfully as she stumbles forward.

I catch her and lift her onto my hip. She clutches me like a lifeline. That's good. I can hold her like this with one arm. No, it's not ideal to fight like this, but I can run faster than she can if we run into any more trouble. Fussily, I adjust the hood on her coat, bringing it up to cover her scaly head, and zip the coat up tight,. It's too bad I had to ditch my own coat. I'll have to find another one. Beside my coat, there are also two bullets and one of my throwing knives lost to this scuffle.

Feeling a little scatter-brained, I purse my lips and start jogging. My brain is already starting to think about the situation and what I need to do from here. I'm going to need more supplies, a new safe place to camp for the night, and soon...

“ _Onē-_!”

I dodge sideways and turn my head to face the one who surprised me, seeing a metallic face and glowing eyes, but too late do I react to the blunt end of a rifle slamming down on my head.

I drop heavily on my knees with a grunt. Black consumes my vision despite my desperate attempt to stay conscious, and I barely get out the words I need to say before I lose control completely.

“ ** _... run, Mei..._** I'll... catchhhh uuup.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... She almost succeeds!


End file.
